16th of May, 756

-Present Day-

There's a moment before lightning strikes where the air is poised with unused potential, dry, raw, and waiting. It is the moment before electricity rips through the charged atmosphere and plunges into the unsuspecting earth. The moment when the world is seemingly on the precipice of peace and destruction, between a tamed and feral nature. It is a moment when all things wonder what comes next. The most accurate representation of suspense and apprehension in abhorrent personification.

Wedged between two cars on the lower level of a parking garage, Numina prayed that the lighting wouldn't strike. That it wouldn't strike again, as it were, the thick liquid pooling between her fingers—oozing steadily from the wound on her leg as she willed it to finally stop bleeding—a jarring reminder of the first time it struck.

Constant fleeing and gruesome battle had done her no favors either, keeping her on her feet and reopening the wound over and over again. Lightheadedness from blood loss was beginning to set in, but Numina had no choice but to keep going, to survive the night, and make it out of the city.

Outside of the concrete walls of the garage, a war waged on. A chaotic swirl of sounds was a plague on the atmosphere: screams, gunshots, buildings collapsing from the violence of explosions, machines of destruction clanking across the roads and growling in the sky, and the roars of biological weapons she still couldn't believe existed, let alone besieged the city, her home. It was a deafening overture of cruelty and betrayal that was nothing compared to the sound of Numina's own labored breathing and erratic heartbeat. Both of which the irrational part of her mind swore were loud, too loud. Loud enough for the daemon, the Naglfar, that shambled its way through the garage she was now hiding in to hear. All she could do was continue with the sickening prayer that the chaos outside would be enough to overwhelm the daemon's senses, preventing it from picking up on her presence.

Numina needed to get out of the city.

But more importantly, she needed an opening to leave her less than optimal hiding place and make a break for the vehicle she had left parked here earlier that morning. With the Wall gone, it would be exceptionally difficult to make it out of the Citadel on foot now that the daemons had become the antagonistic allies of the Imperial forces that laid claim on her home through trickery and lies. And since she was only able to place any weight on her right leg due to sheer willpower alone, walking out of the city wasn't an option. Yet the Naglfar that was prowling around was directly in the path of her best shot at getting out.

Dizziness from blood loss and fatigue, weakness from exertion and despair, and a mind plagued by panicked thoughts fueled by grief left Numina in no shape to take on a daemon of such strength; and she certainly couldn't do it on her own. That limited her options down to stealth only, but with each passing moment, the Empire would be making it more and more difficult to escape as they were no doubt growing closer to locking down the city.

"Do you hear me? Repeat, this is Drautos. Can you hear me? Over."

Numina froze as the open channel from a Glaive's radio carelessly left on in their vehicle pierced through the stillness of the garage. There was a hesitation in the daemon's movements before the thing roared and struck a nearby car, sending it flying towards the far wall of the garage, launching Numina's heart to her throat at the same time.

"Your timing's impeccable, captain," came a familiar voice with insubordinate wit.

"Nyx," Numina breathed, her heart going from thundering to subdued in a manner of seconds. They're still in the city, she realized in abject horror.

"You are to rendezvous and regroup. Understood?"

Numina shrank down the side of the car further as the Naglfar attacked another vehicle, failing to find the source of the voices. Peering ever so slightly over the hood of the car, she could see that the daemon had turned away from her, stalking raucously in the opposite direction instead.

"That might not be so easy, Captain," Nyx came over the radio, the static doing nothing to hide the breathless quality of his voice. "My wings have been clipped, in case you didn't know."

Explosions erupted, coming across as harsh static that the less than sensitive radio supplied, unable to handle the intense volume of the actual sounds.

"Ulric. Are you alright?" Drautos' spoke, his voice betrayingly concerned.

Numina shifted, poising herself to move at a moment's notice. She let out a soft hiss as she forced herself to place her weight on her injured leg, the burning handicap slicing its way to the forefront of her mind with eager pain.

"I'm not dead, if that's what you mean, sir," came a pained and exasperated reply.

"Head for Section D as soon as you can. I'll have an evacuation team ready."

"Don't suppose you could meet me at the gate?" Nyx asked dryly. "I'd kind of like to get the hell out of this city."

"Imperials hold all exits," Dratous' cold tone responded. "There's no way through. I'll meet you at section D. Cut all radio contact until. And make sure you get there."

Numina held her breath. No…no, no, no, no, no… she willed Nyx to refuse, to know what she knew.

"It's a date, sir," Nyx said with the same hot-blooded cockiness he always used. This time, however, his tone caused Numina's heart to sink, and it became apparent to her that the time for stealth and quick escape was gone. She had no choice. Nyx and Luna had yet to leave the city, and they were walking straight into a trap.

Numina allowed herself one more shuddering breath before her resolve evened it out, quelling the distraught and anguish filled thoughts that held her in place. Using the two cars she hid between to propel herself, Numina lunged forward, ignoring the pain that bit at her leg as she sprinted through the garage, keys in hand, and mind focused on a single destination.

It only took a moment for the daemon to hear her and a few seconds more for it to turn around and spot her. An inhuman roar erupted from its jaws as it rushed towards her, knocking the parked cars in its path aside easily. The sound of crushing and scraping metal that chased after her was soon followed by the sound of crumbling stone as the Naglfar plowed into a concrete support beam, slowing the creature just enough for Numina to insert the keys and turn the engine over.

3rd Nov 743

-Thirteen Years Ago-

This place was so much more different than her home. The ceilings were higher, and the colors were darker. There were so much black and silver that adorned the halls. And there were always scary men in strange uniforms everywhere, and some of them even wore masks made of twisted metal, reminding her of the daemons she had been warned about.

It all led to Numina being terrified of this new place she had been left in. It made her feel small and alone in the big palace—the Citadel, they had quickly informed her upon arriving. Unconsciously, the young girl drew her legs in closer to her, huddling in on herself in an attempt at gaining some comfort in such a foreign place.

The sound of pages turning one after the other echoed outwards from the book she rested on top of her knees. She had managed to escape from the scary people and find the library on her own, surprised at how it was almost as big as the one back home; yet it was completely empty aside from herself and the books that lined the shelves, familiar faces even if their names were different.

But it wasn't so bad, she supposed. The couch she found was comfy, and the room they said was hers was bigger than the one she had at home, even if the view from her window was of concrete buildings instead of twisty trees. Plus, there was a boy with hair as black as her own around, and he was the same age as her, too. He had a nice smile and soft blue eyes. "Noctis," they said his name was, but they called him "Prince" sometimes, or "Highness" if it was an adult. Numina could tell that he didn't like it when they called him that, though; he always made a scrunched-up face and had been quick to tell her to call him "Noct" if the adults weren't around. His friends and family were allowed to call him that, he said. And then there was Noctis' father. They called him "King Regis" and "Your Majesty." He was a tall man with the same black hair color that she and Noctis had. His voice was always soft with her, and he had the same smile his son did.

King Regis reminded her a lot of her father, only her father had longer hair and an x-shaped scar on his left cheek. Her father was always smiling whenever she saw him, always scooped her up and held her high before carrying her in his muscular arms no matter how big she had gotten. His laughter was gentle, and he used to read to her whenever she asked and whenever he wasn't busy. In fact, he had once read her the book she was now—

A soft hiccup escaped the young girl, and she could no longer read the words on the page. Her tears were in the way now, and Numina dropped her head, letting her forehead smack against the back of her knees as she buried her crying, pulling herself into a tight little ball seated on the couch.

They had told her that Noctis was her brother, her little brother, now. He was seven, like her, and she was only a few months older, something she would have been proud of any other time, but right now she was too overwhelmed to care. They kept telling her over and over that Noctis was her brother, that King Regis was her father, and that her mother was called "Surrogate" because they almost didn't have Noctis—whatever that meant.

But they were lying to her, every time they told her that story and asked her to repeat it back to them; she was lying every time she said it back. And lying was bad. That's what her real father and mother had taught her. But the adults here didn't like it when she argued and got all snarly when she didn't say it the way they wanted.

Numina didn't want Noctis to be her brother. She didn't want King Regis to be her father. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home right now.

A soft gasp escaped her lips as she heard the large wooden doors swing open, screeching on unused hinges that more than needed oil. Scrambling haphazardly off of the couch, Numina ran towards the large desk that was off to one side, diving behind it as quickly as she could to make sure no one saw her and told the others where she was. Occasionally, she had heard her name being called from the hallway beyond the library doors, so she knew that they were looking for her, but she didn't want to be found. She didn't want to hear any more of their lies.

"Oh no!" Numina breathed, quickly clapping her hand over her mouth as soon she said the words.

In her rush to hide, she had accidentally left her book—a gift from her father—behind, and it now lay on the floor, having fallen off the couch in her scramble. Numina could see it from her hiding place, peeking from around the corner of the desk, and she very nearly ran out to go grab it. But the footsteps approaching from the library's entrance forced her to retreat into the little cubby meant for your legs if you were sitting.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

It was the other boy she had met. Ignis Science-something. She could recognize him by the neat accent he had. It was unlike any other she had heard, and she thought it was the coolest thing when she first heard it. He was only older than she and Noctis by two years, but he talked like he had the dictionary her father used to make her use when she didn't know a word memorized, using bigger words than she could comprehend sometimes. And while he seemed nice when she met him, he didn't smile the way Noctis did. He didn't smile at all, it seemed.

"Hello?" Ignis tried again, his footsteps drawing closer to Numina's hiding place. When his footsteps stopped, she held her breath, refusing to make any noise aside from her pounding heartbeat.

"Hmm?" she heard the inquisitive boy hum before his footsteps resumed. She could hear him stop once more and after a second of silence the sounds of him reaching down and picking up the book she had carelessly left behind reached her from her hiding place.

"Princess Numina?" Ignis called softly. "Are you in here?" But Numina remained silent.

Ignis and Noctis had both been quick to accept the lies they had been told to say, and she wanted to hate them for it, but she couldn't. They didn't know any better. They were just doing what they were told to do, unlike her. They didn't know about her father and mother, about her home in the trees.

The footsteps began once more, and it became horrifyingly clear that he was rapidly approaching her hiding place. Knowing that she couldn't run somewhere else to hide, Numina scrunched up her eyes, refusing to watch as she was found.

Brilliant emerald eyes were waiting for her, watching her when Numina finally opened her eyes again. Ignis was crouched before her, book in one hand and the other resting on his knee. He watched her with a puzzled expression.

"Hello," he said once she met his gaze.

"Hi," Numina breathed, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.

"Are you alright?"

Numina gave him a small nod but had to look away. She didn't like the way he was looking at her.

"Why are you in there?" he asked, continuing with gentle questions.

She frowned slightly, thinking it was a silly question. "I'm hiding..."

"Why?"

"I don't want to lie anymore." And she didn't want to cry anymore, but it was hard to fight against her tears.

Ignis frowned slightly at her answer. "Do you want to come out?"

Numina quickly shook her head. She didn't want to go back to the scary men in black that that were everywhere in the palace. She didn't want to be found by the mean people that told her she was wrong and made her repeat things over and over if she didn't get it right.

He frowned at her again, and she was afraid that he was going to yell at her like the mean men had. He was looking at her the same way the adults from earlier did. But instead of being mad at her, Ignis just nodded, moving a little so that he was sitting in front of her instead of kneeling.

"Alright," Ignis said, moving the book from his lap and held it out to her. "Is this yours?"

"Mm-hmm," she hummed before reaching out with a trembling hand to take it back. "My dad gave it to me."

"What's it about?"

Numina wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand, "Um…well…it's about cats, b-but not normal cats. They're, um, they're warrior cats that belong to four different clans," she started shakily. "And they…they have to fight to protect their land from each other and from outsiders. And, uh, you follow the story of a cat named Firepaw, who's still an apprentice warrior in Thunderclan."

"It sounds like a good book," Ignis offered her with a small smile.

"Yeah," Numina nodded enthusiastically. "This is the fourth book, a-and I have the first book in my room if you want to read it…"

"Would you let me borrow it?"

"Mm-hmm," she hummed with a smile, shuffling her way forward. "But you have to be careful with it."

Ignis nodded in agreement to the young girl's terms and helped her stand from her hiding place with a hand offered in kind assistance.

The reasons that had kept Numina hiding in the library momentarily forgotten and there was a confidence in her step as she went to follow the bespectacled boy up until the moment they reached the door to leave the library, her haven from the strange new place she wasn't used to. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed, though, and Ignis turned to her as soon as she stopped following him

"Is something wrong?" Ignis asked her, the calming tones of his voice doing nothing to stop the nervousness she felt.

Numina quickly cast her gaze to the polished marble floor, grinding the tip of her shoe bashfully into it. "I-um…I don't know—I don't know how to get back to my room," she admitted with quiet difficulty, fearful to look up.

"That's alright," Ignis told her gently. "I know where it is. I can show you the way."

"You-you can?" she asked softly, hopeful.

"Of course," he assured her, a faint smile of pride brightening his features.

"But what about…" and Numina trailed off. Ignis was watching her closely, though, waiting for her to finish her question. "But what about the scary people?"

"Scary people?" he echoed.

Numina nodded. "The people in black. They're everywhere, and they look so mean…"

"They won't hurt you," he told her matter-of-factly. "They're the palace guards. They're here to protect you.

It made sense. She had seen guards before, but still… "They scare me."

"You don't have to be afraid of them," Ignis said, drawing closer to her. "I'll protect you."

"Promise?" Numina asked, perking up.

"I promise."

And Numina believed him. He had gentle eyes and a confidence in him that made her trust him. As soon as they walked out of her sanctuary, however, Numina quickly slipped her hand into Ignis' for comfort, failing to notice the way he tensed up at the initial contact. She was too worried about the guards that were at every corner as they walked on.

Every time they passed one, Numina's grip on Ignis' hand would tighten, and she was clinging to him as though he were a lifeline. Continuing through the hallways, though, Ignis seemed to warm up to the small hand looped in his own, and he would occasionally give her hand a reassuring squeeze to let her know that everything was going to be alright. When they rounded the next corner and saw King Regis and the men that had been forcing her to lie waiting at the end of the corridor, however, Numina stopped believing that everything was going to be alright and halted in her steps, dragging Ignis to a standstill as well.

"Ignis," she whimpered in fear, releasing his hand and instead clinging to the back of his shirt as she hid behind him. "I don't want to go back with them."

Ignis looked at her over her shoulder. "It's going to be alright. I promised, remember?"

Numina nodded, but that didn't stop her heart from racing as the towering adults started to approach them.

"Thank you for finding her, Ignis," King Regis said with a gentle smile, leaving the other adults behind him as he came to stand before the two kids.

"Of course, Your Majesty," the young boy said, bowing as well as he could with Numina hanging on to him for dear life.

The elder man's thoughtful gaze then turned to the little girl that hid ineffectively behind Ignis. "Numina," he said, gaining her attention, "would you come here please?"

She didn't want to, but she looked at Ignis, silently asking him to tell her what to do next. Paying attention to his response, a small nod telling her it was alright, Numina didn't notice the way the King smiled in endearment at the small exchange.

With head bowed, Numina finally approached King Regis.

"Will you tell me what's wrong, Numina?" the King asked her softly. "Why you ran away?"

Numina quickly shook her head no.

The King took a step forward and kneeled before the scared girl, lowering himself lovingly to her level. "I promise I won't be mad at you, little one. You can tell me."

He sounded like her father did in that moment, and Numina found the strength to look at King Regis.

"You're not my father."

"Princess Numina, that is no way to speak to—" one of the mean adults started, but the King quickly silenced him with a glare.

"You're right, Numina," the King said gently, turning back to her. "I'm not your father. You're father—"

"He's dead."

Numina didn't know the word for the way King Regis was looking at her. She had seen it before in a book, but she never had the chance to look it up like her father had encouraged her to. All she knew was that it was like sadness, a lot of sadness, but it wasn't your own sadness. It was a sadness you felt for someone else because they were sad about something. Because they were hurting.

"Yes, Numina," the King said, his voice thick with emotion for the little girl that stood so strongly before him. "But I made a promise to your father that I would protect you and look after you as if you were my own daughter. A promise I will keep."

"But I'm not your daughter," she argued meekly.

"No," he agreed. "But you can be." The King placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I may not be your father, Numina, but I will love you just the same as any father would love his daughter. And if you can ever find it in your heart to love me, I would be honored to have you call me father."

"I miss my dad," Numina whispered, struggling to fight back her tears.

"I know you do, little one," King Regis said softly, and she all but threw herself into the arms of the King, no longer able to stop herself from crying.

Numina didn't know how long she cried into the King's shoulder, her face buried in the soft layers of his royal attire. All she knew was that she missed her father and that King Regis was a kind man that held her as she wept for the family and home she had lost to brutal war. He held her the same way her father had when her mother died.

When her tears finally subsided and the sobs that had wracked her small body dissipated into tiny hiccups, Numina finally pulled away from the clinging embrace she had instigated; and much to her surprise, she found that the mean men from earlier were now gone, leaving only herself, the King, and Ignis.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," she sniffled, realizing how rude she had been to the King.

"It is quite alright, Numina," he reassured her gently. "When I heard that you had disappeared, I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry," she echoed. "I didn't mean to make you worry. I just… I just didn't want to lie anymore, and they were being mean to me."

"I understand," the King said. "And I know that you were taught that lying is bad, your father wouldn't have it any other way," he continued, a small smile in remembrance for an old friend, "but these lies I am unfairly asking you to say are so that I can keep the promise I made to protect you."

"They are?"

The King nodded his answer, green eyes soft in their honesty. "I can never replace your father, Numina, and I am not trying to"

Numina nodded in understanding, biting her lower lip.

"But what I am asking you to do is allow me to give you the chance at having a family again. Not a replacement," he repeated firmly, "but a new family that will care for you as you deserve."

There was a slight hesitation before the little girl standing in front of him responded, her eyes filled with quelling emotions as she turned over this information. She was much smarter than most her age, a bit like Ignis in that respect though not nearly as mute in her emotions as he was. It was a gap that existed between him in Noctis, one that he silently hoped Numina might bridge if she accepted the place she was offering in his family.

"Ok," Numina said quietly. She may not have been able to fully understand what it meant to have a new family, but she knew that King Regis and Prince Noctis were good people.

The smile that the King wore at her response was one of the warmest Numina had ever seen on him. It even managed to wash away the wrinkles that made him look so much older than he truly was.

"Now," King Regis said lightheartedly, "where were you two heading before myself and the others so rudely interrupted your journey?"

"Well, uh," Numina started, slightly embarrassed that she might have to admit to her forgetfulness to the King. "We were, um…we were…"

But thankfully Ignis came to her rescue. "We were on our way back to Princess Numina's room," he said, using her dreaded title. "She was generous enough to allow me to borrow one of her favorite books she had talked about earlier in the library."

"How very generous of her, indeed," the King chuckled knowingly. "Well, I shall not keep you from your destination any longer," he added, gracefully stepping to the side, removing himself from the children's path. "I look forward to seeing you at dinner tonight, Numina."

Numina nodded her head in agreement, remaining mute.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ignis said with an overly formal and proper bow before he took the lead down the corridor.

Sparing the King one last hesitating glance, Numina quickly raced to catch up with the older boy, his greater height giving him an advantage in speed over her; and as soon as she reached him, she was quick to capture Ignis' hand in her own. The fear she had felt before may have been gone, but it was still comforting to her, like a physical reminder of his promise to protect her from the scary looking guards she knew wouldn't harm her because of the King's own promise to her.

And surprisingly enough, Ignis didn't mind at all as he guided her out of the darkness of feeling alone and forgotten.